‘An embarrassment for QU:’ Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum’s closure sparks public outcry
September 28, 2021
After learning about her Irish heritage at Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum in 2013, class of 1984 alumna Kathleen Regan cut her nursing career short and decided to open an Irish gift shop. Now that the museum is closed, she said she is “angry,” “sad,” “disappointed” and “frustrated.”
“I feel like people who are making the decision are not the ones who really will be affected by it,” Regan said.
The museum’s donors, supporters and former staffers spoke against Quinnipiac University’s decision to shut down the museum and called for a reopening.
The university’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously in early August to permanently close Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum due to low attendance of fewer than 20 visitors per day and financial reasons as it only generated funds to cover nearly 25% of its operational budget.
Regan said the closure lacked transparency as the university did not involve the community in making the decision. She donated to the museum in May and said she still doesn’t know where her money went.
“Those of us who have been supporters, why were we not included?” Regan said. “I would like our voices to be heard.”
Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan did not make anyone in the administration available for an interview.
In an open letter to Quinnipiac President Judy Olian and the Board of Trustees from the Committee to Save Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum, the 33 committee members said they remain mistrustful of the reasons the university cited for the closure.
“Budgets can be cut, staff released, hours decreased; none of these possibilities even appears to have been considered,” the letter stated. “Does the stated traffic (fewer than 20 people per day) account for students and other non-paying visitors? If so, then the administration should be held accountable for not making better use of its own resources.”
Francis McCarthy, a former public safety officer at Quinnipiac who was assigned to work full time at the museum since it opened in 2012, said the operation of the museum changed after Olian started her tenure.
“The free admission arranged by (former President) John Lahey — as a learning experience for all — ended,” McCarthy said. “Admission fees were charged for adults.”
The new administration imposed a financial efficiency goal for the museum in 2019, in which the museum failed to raise funds over the last three years. It was “clearly a very difficult decision” to shut it down, Olian said at a town hall on Aug. 26.
The open letter stated that the 33 members of the museum-saving committee weren’t aware of any fundraising effort that might have taken place since 2019. They said it was “unreasonable” to count the pandemic year as a part of an “unsuccessful fundraising effort.”
Another concern was about the future of the historical collection at the museum. Morgan said the university is in “active conversations” with potential partners for relocation. However, it remains unknown if the collection will be broken up.
“Donors, including some listed (in the letter), made contributions to the whole museum based in part on its location,” the letter stated. “Relocation to New York or Chicago or elsewhere would diminish the interest value to many donors.”
Related Stories:
The destruction of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum: Why you should care
Quinnipiac closes Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum amid financial sufficiency goal
Morgan said Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute and Lender Family Special Collection in Arnold Bernhard Library remain active to continue the mission of educating students and the public.
History professor and Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute Christine Kinealy said the university has lost something “unique and special nowhere else in the world had” without the museum.
“Having the institute, the museum and the library collection made us distinctive within the world,” Kinealy said. “I think it’s such a shame now to have broken that up.”
For the Irish, Kinealy said the famine is one of the foundation stories that defined them as people, and the exhibition featured artwork that told those stories. She said everyone, not just people of Irish heritage, can learn about hunger displacement from the collection.
As the museum used to host several community events such as musical concerts, lectures and food drives, McCarthy said the closure has impacted many local establishments. He said it’s sad how Quinnipiac doesn’t value what has been collected and displayed at the museum.
“This is an embarrassment for QU,” McCarthy said. “A treasure is disregarded. What a loss due to the lack of leadership on the part of the current administration.”
Kinealy said she hopes the Board of Trustees revisit the issue and reconsider its decision with consultants from the community.
Regan said she wants Quinnipiac to consider temporarily reopening it so the community gets a chance to say goodbye and enjoy the exhibition for the last time.
One of the museum’s volunteers, Mary Noonan Cortright, said staff worked “very seriously” to create a relatable experience for all visitors. Cortright said she hopes to see the museum’s mission continue, but with a different owner.
“Since Quinnipiac doesn’t seem to realize the far-reaching impact Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum has had and the asset that it is to the present and future of the university, I do hope that another university will purchase it and continue the fine work that has begun telling the human story,” Cortright said.
John Miller • Oct 7, 2021 at 9:35 pm
Would love to see this building made into classrooms. As a student that’s what we need! Even faculty offices – A&S professors have trailers. I’ve been here 4 years and never had any interest in either Irish museums. Interest from a small minority doesn’t always pay the bills. Just stating the facts. I see everyone blaming the new administration but I also don’t see Dr. Lahey donating millions, which he has, to keep it open. “Quinnipiac University President John L. Lahey earned almost $3.8 million in 2012, the second-highest compensation of any private U.S. university president, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education”. That was 2012 and he was there until 2018!! His salary probably increased. He could easily keep it open with a sizeable donation yet he didn’t do it. Hmm. Makes you think why not? It’s probably better off in Boston or NYC. Wouldn’t you want your collection and history of Irish Hunger to reach a greater audience and educate more people than the paltry attendance it had in Hamden? The parking lot was always empty. For everyone arguing for the museum, I am strongly opposed to it reopening.
Kerry Wallace • Oct 14, 2021 at 5:48 pm
Do you care about the history of the school? Do you care about the impact of having the museum has given the school in an international and national level? The school made no attempts to find donors or improve programs at the museum. It was on her chopping block from day 1. They spent millions on a new admins home and couldn’t spare a dime for museum?
Thomas Kennedy, one of the IGHM's seven docents • Sep 30, 2021 at 12:30 pm
Your article is a heartfelt and impassioned statement about the QU Board and its senior management’s decision to shutter this treasure. I have no doubt that in due time the goal of making it self sufficient would have been realized. Let us all take note of the fact that the edict that this must happen was issued in January 2019 and a mere 13 months passed before the closure made necessary by the pandemic. How callous it seems to me to expect an economic transformation over such a short period of time and with knowledge of the fact that the “burden” on the University had been more than halved to approximately $250,000 by August 2021. This progress was made without any structured attempt on the part of the QU Development Office to actively seek the level of donor support that was needed. By way of example, it was only as a result of counsel from the Museum staff and volunteers that in their annual solicitations for support allowed a directed gift to IGHM by means of a box that could be checked on their form. How sad. Some of us believe that the closing was preordained. Somewhere there are folks who can speak truth to this notion.
M Terry • Sep 29, 2021 at 5:02 pm
I have written to President Olian and to the Board members whose email addresses I could locate to express my outrage at the proposed closing of the Museum. Could you imagine even suggesting that the Holocaust Museum in DC close down? The Great Hunger Museum at QU is a rare treasure that houses a unique collection of magnificent pieces created both by renowned as well as under-appreciated artists. The periodic temporary exhibits have been exceptional in design and curation. The Museum’s commemorative exhibit about Frederick Douglass, “The Black O’Connell” was outstanding! And what a remarkable humanitarian effort the Museum made to reciprocate the kindness of Native Americans towards Irish famine sufferers by fundraising for the Navajo nation in its disproportionate struggle with Covid-19.
We all read now about how climate change is affecting crop health across the globe and how extreme heat and floods have devastated acres of corn in Guatemala, for example, and see photographs of that country’s children with their protruding rib cages. These articles and photos bring immediately to mind the incredibly informative Conference on Children and Hunger that was sponsored by QU’s Great Hunger Museum.
It seems to me that today, more than ever, the mission of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum to educate about a recurring threat to humanity based on Ireland’s own history of famine is an urgent one. If QU needs to increase the entry fee for visitors or require a fee for scholars or set up a fundraising campaign, then it certainly should do whatever might be required to maintain the existence of the Great Hunger Museum — in its entirety — at its current location. Carving up this jewel is a huge mistake, and doing so without community input is an even graver one.
The QU Board and President Olian should reassess their position on closing this extraordinary institution, and expend some real effort to come up with ideas and engage the Museum’s supporters to keep this monument going for years to come.
Kerry Wallace • Oct 14, 2021 at 5:44 pm
Can you share emails of board with me [email protected]?!
Turlough McConnell • Sep 29, 2021 at 8:28 am
Thank you for this brave and compelling story. The Quinnipiac Chronicle keeps the flame of intellectual courage and freedom shining bright. Bravo.